Talent and Genius
by SHpanda4354
Summary: Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. Arthur Schopenhauer 1788 - 1860


I don't own Naruto. I don't know what I thinking while I was going through that quotes page, but I know that I should know better.

Enjoy the Team 7 drabble-ness. (Oh, and review??? 3)

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Dokiiin---! ... Dokiiin---! ... I hear it methodically outside... there's no break in the rhythm. If I listen long enough... hiiiifff... huuuuu... my breathing becomes synchronized. In and out match each beat he makes. Laying here, staring at the ceiling... the only thing that I can clearly imagine is the sound of footsteps. At first they coincide with the tempo of the colliding metal; quickly, however, they speed, crashing ... shattering the smoothness of the beat, crashing into their own melodious tempo... my heart quickly matches it.

I'm calling out for him. Chasing his shadow. I want to be with him. Keep his pace. The longer I listen to his pace, the easier it is to fall into step... but then... Can you see it? We're so far apart. I don't just want to walk with him... I want to walk alongside him. Keep him company. Share the jokes that no one else will get when we try to explain them... Sasuke... can you hear my pace?

It's calling, crying for you to look back. Slow your pace, just long enough for me to catch up. Please.

I walk to work. I shop for groceries. I train my ass off. The only thing I hear is the same thing I heard when we were younger. Dokiiin---! ... Dokiiin---! ... The beating of your heart transplanted into the rhythm of crashing kunai. Did y--do you know that I could listen to you training? I didn't try, really. I hated it at first...but when you left... my mornings just weren't the same. It's weird. Did y--do you know that I run every morning near that place you thought was so secret? ... !!! ... ... Heh, tears...

I may be far behind the glory of the last Uchiha... but just you wait Sasuke... I don't know how you reached that level. Everyone says that I'm not talented enough to make it that far. Just you wait, bastard. One day, you'll hear something close by... and when you look back... I'll be there. I don't know how just yet... but that doesn't matter. I'll find a way.

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Sasuke, can you see? Do you hear him behind you? He's always chased after you. ...well, I can't say that he's truly getting closer. How can you get closer to a target you can't see? He's moving to where you were though, where he thinks you'll go. It's safe to say that no, we don't know what we're going to do with you when we find you... but we have to find you first. Yes, I said we... I've never stopped trying to grasp the hand that fled from me. I won't try to make you feel something that you don't feel... but please! Please come back... let us come with you... something...

You know Sasuke, I don't know how you do what you do... but you have to see him. Look back... just once... just glance back to see that glorious person you've created with the sight of your shadow. Even though he's aiming for you, he's nothing like you... but he's just as great. ...Is that what's happening?

Maybe you can hear him... I can hear you calling him stupid... just as much as I would if I had seen it sooner. It's like you're both on staircases... both on the ninth floor... but... you're in different buildings. It's so stupid... He's trying to climb the stairs and get onto your staircase at the same time... The whole concept of triangles says that not only is that an idiotic thing to do... but there's more work involved in that too... and... it's impossible... isn't it?

Wait... what am I talking about... somehow this man I'm talking about is the same stupid idiot that couldn't pull off much of any technique beyond the bare minimum on the academy exam... getting by with just determination is something that he can do... because he ignores all of the rules of common sense...

If anyone can find a way to do that... it's the one that thought of the target in first place... right, Sasuke?

Yeah... Naruto will find a way.

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He's unique, original, incomprehensible. Everything I'm not. There's not a chance in world that could ever fully match that mentality everyone set me for competing against. I learn the rules. I manipulate them. I see ways to use them in ways that no one else does. But, he created lines for himself. That made him a genius.

And if being a genius means that you go crazy, I'd rather be inept and pathetic. The way you think I am, brother.

But, you know... I think I can match you in one point. I found my own way to become a shadow. That anger after a failed attempt to find you, you should hear it too. In the forgotten darkness, the breathless cries... the swift brush of fabric...

Heh. Should I bother to play their game? Or should I be content with yours for now?

Itachi... he's so noisy. Even in my sleep I can hear him. Some nights, it's all I can do to stay away from his grasp. Every failed attempt makes me realized just how much closer to me he really is. And I can't go back yet.

You're just ahead of me. I have to reach you. I have to find a way.

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Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

**Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)**


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